Exciting times at the gym

Well my weekend has been pretty boring. Because we’re coming to the end of a project and the deadlines are very tight I had to work. Thankfully I was able to work from home which meant I didn’t have to drive to the office (45 minutes of absolute pants). But it still meant no weekend frivolities for me.

I also had to get up early to get my gym sessions in. I don’t mind getting up early – even at the weekend. But I’m used to getting up early for things I genuinely love. Like Parkrun on the Saturday, or my long run on the Sunday. But Saturday morning saw me walking into a very empty gym at 7.30am. Clearly I am of the minority for early Saturday morning gym sessions. To be frank, I wouldn’t be there if I could run!!

I managed 40 minutes on the bike (I chose the recumbent bike to give some relief to my hips and knees). After a 5 minute warm-up I did 2 minutes easy and 1 minute sprint. It kept things somewhat entertaining. Then I did 20 minutes on the rower.

Afterwards I ventured over to the Power Plate. I’d heard some good things about the vibrations being good for helping with injuries and massaging tight muscles. Hey, I’d eat my iPhone if you told me it’d help me recover (I’m not quite sure how, but I’d definitely try).

Sunday I was really not feeling the gym. I had to get up at 6.30am to walk Alfie beforehand as Ben was having a lie-in (rightfully so). Oh lord it was hard. But I got there and sat on the bike for 15 minutes not feeling it, so went on the rower for 45minutes instead.

Rowing at gym

I then tried the Power Plate again. This time I’d done a bit of prior research to maximise my time with it and spent about 30 minutes working my way through some strength moves, stretches and then just lying my legs (hamstring, IT band, quads) on the plate for the massage.

Let me tell you, squats are a killer on that thing! My legs were burning!

Then it was back home to shower and start work. Joy.

Friday morning I had a crazy gym experience (sorry I realise this post is all over the place). I was on the bike really struggling to stay motivated and 10 minutes in my spin instructor walks by. He asks why I haven’t been going to spin for a bit and I explain about my knee. He didn’t seem surprised…apparently I look like I have terrible posture. My right side looks a lot tighter than my left, from my shoulder to my hips. He asked if I had 5 minutes. I thought, if it means getting off this boring machine then yes!

For the next 40 minutes he directed me to do different moves and gave me a sports massage for all my tight areas as we were going. It was so bizarre. It was basically a freebie 1-to-1 personal trainer/sports massage session! He specialises in ‘corrective exercise’, which basically means he trains people so that they’re body becomes more aligned, by strengthening the weaker muscles and stretching the tight ones.

Well I was sold on his technique and ability, and his extensive experience. After chatting with Ben I decided I’d sign up with him to for some personal training. I’ll have a consultation with him beforehand to tell him my goals (increasing my strength and basically reduce my running-related injuries). I’m very excited. This is exactly what I need right now before I get back into running and marathon training. It’s hard to motivate myself when I’m not running, so having someone guide me who knows what they’re doing is a huge relief!

And what can I say, I’m a sucker for a good sale…

 What’s the weirdest thing that’s happened to you or you’ve seen at the gym?

How do you keep yourself motivated on a gym machine?

Are you an early riser or do you like your lie-ins?

6 Replies to “Exciting times at the gym”

  1. Wow he sounds brilliant! What a good freebie, and so good that you can work with someone who understands you.
    Still the weirdest thing saw at the gym was a lady in just her swimming cozzie on an exercise bike- ready for the sauna after??
    No I don’t do lie ins, I wake up early but I wouldn’t choose to go to the gym, I would rather run, or if not, potter around at home./

  2. That’s great about the personal trainer. He sounds very observant which is ideal. 🙂
    I’m an early riser but I like to have 30mins or so to potter around and not do a lot first thing in the morning. I’m not a massive gym fan but having the internet on the machines now at my gym is helping!

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